Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has admitted that the league will be hit hard by FIFA international dates next season, but said there’s not much that can be done about it, Luis Arroyave reports.
“There are 13 weekends affected by international play and we have a 30-week season,” Garber said in Chicago. “To not play on those dates is impossible. In those markets — and Toronto is one of them — where they can play a disproportionate number of games during the week, then we’ll schedule more games during the week up there. But most markets are unable to handle that.”
Garber said it’s too cold up north to start the season earlier in, say, February, or to end it later, in December: “We could look at extending it a week or two, but we can’t fit those 13 weeks into our schedule while we’re playing in this part of the world and have a fan base that disproportionately comes to games on weekends versus during the week. In almost all markets, the difference in attendance is over 50 percent for games played on a Wednesday or Thursday night than a Saturday night.”
On the issue of MLS teams being unable to compete properly in the Concacaf Champions League due to their under-sized rosters, Garber said there’s not enough money. “The need to beat teams in the Champions League isn’t enough to reconfigure our entire business model,” he said. Tough to argue with that one, given that MLS won’t publish its business model and give us any figures. But where does all that cash go when a new owner ponies up $40 million for a franchise?
The league is also looking at ways to reduce schedule congestion by possibly having different teams compete in the Superliga and the CCL. And for all those who’ve taken the trouble to write to Mr. Garber, he does read his fan mail, and even responds “when they’re respectful.” Which is “rarely.” Go on, make The Don’s day and write him a nice, respectful letter.